Half a dozen New York City taxi drivers stole thousands of dollars from passengers by overcharging for tolls, city officials announced in November. The Department of Investigation (DOI) said the cabbies pleaded guilty to felony charges of defrauding an estimated 2,000 passengers between 2015 and 2018, for a combined total of more than $11,500. All six defendants were ordered into a community-based diversion and sentencing program, designed to reduce incarceration.
“The investigation included analyzing driver information, GPS data, and trip data from TLC, and also included identifying suspicious toll charges, reviewing maps developed from the GPS records of the cabs driven by the defendant drivers, creating maps for each suspicious trip and examining each to see if the appropriate toll amount was charged,” according to a DOI press release.
Officials said the accused drivers hail from Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Long Island, and range between the ages of 31 and 62. All were accused of charging passengers for non-existent tolls or overcharging on rates that did not account for an EZ-Pass discount.
Source: NBC New York
